


Secrets follow us (visions we can't forget)

by MYuzuki



Series: No matter what’s in front of me (I’ll keep fighting til I’ve won) [49]
Category: Final Fantasy XV, Kingsglaive
Genre: Families of Choice, Gen, How Do I Tag, Introspection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Regis Lucis Caelum, Protective Regis Lucis Caelum, Sort Of, essentially this is Regis having a lot of thoughts about Nyx "my life is nothing" Ulric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:28:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27121825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MYuzuki/pseuds/MYuzuki
Summary: The thing about Nyx Ulric, Regis is coming to realize, is that he really does have a heroic spirit, to the point that he's almost stupidly careless with his own well-being simply because he's so dedicated to protecting everyone else.
Relationships: Regis Lucis Caelum & Nyx Ulric
Series: No matter what’s in front of me (I’ll keep fighting til I’ve won) [49]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1897525
Comments: 8
Kudos: 100





	Secrets follow us (visions we can't forget)

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back, my friends! Today's going to be very busy for me (and probably also very stressful, lol) so I wanted to post the next drabble as a sort of present to myself (and to you guys, for always being so supportive of my hectic schedule <3).
> 
> Anyway, this drabble is the first time I've done a Regis POV, can you believe it? I hope you enjoy it (and for more rambling about how this drabble came about, check out the ending author's note.) ;D

**Secrets follow us (visions we can't forget)**

* * *

The thing about Nyx Ulric, Regis is coming to realize, is that he really does have an innately heroic spirit, to the point that he's almost stupidly careless with his own well-being simply because he's so dedicated to protecting everyone else.

It's impressive and inspiring and _incredibly_ worrisome.

Because Nyx Ulric is commander of the Kingsglaive. Because even before he ascended to that rank he was one of the most skilled members in the entire organization, displaying a talent for warp strikes and offensive magic that surpasses soldiers twice his age. Because that level of fighting ability makes him a considerable asset to not only Regis personally but the kingdom of Lucis as a whole.

But also because Nyx Ulric is more than a military asset, he is a _person_. He's someone whose name had crossed Regis's desk even before the mess with Glauca, someone lauded as a courageous and selfless hero by his comrades even as his superior officer Drautos had lamented his unwillingness to follow orders if those orders conflicted with his own sense of duty.

(Of course, since Drautos had turned out to be a two-faced traitor, perhaps he'd never really been a reliable perspective on the matter of loyalty in the first place.)

Because Nyx had helped to save the life of Regis's son, when Regis himself had given up on saving Noctis from his unfair fate, hating the gods for choosing his son as a martyr but unable to forge another path forward on his own without dooming the world to an eternity of darkness.

And because whenever Regis casts his mind back to his younger years, those years spent traveling abroad through the outer regions of Lucis, he thinks that he _remembers_ Nyx.

The Kingsglaive commander had been much younger then, a child of only some twelve or thirteen years, and Regis had been passing through Galahd with his retinue, meeting with the leaders of the province to assure them that -despite the fact his father Mors had pulled back the Wall to protect only Insomnia- Regis was dedicated to protecting _all_ the people in his kingdom.

The daemon attack had been sudden and unexpected, a pack of vicious sabertusks manifesting right as the sun drifted below the horizon at nightfall, but Regis had dispatched the monsters easily enough thanks to his own battle prowess at the time (and Six, but he _misses_ being in peak physical condition, misses being able to walk without a cane and longs for the days when he could wake up in the morning without a thousand different aches and pains dragging down at his body from the strain of maintaining the Wall for so many years).

He remembers seeing young Nyx in the aftermath, clutching a dagger and standing in front of a young dark-haired girl who'd shared his eye color, his expression fierce and determined as if he'd tear through anyone or anything that would try to harm her despite the fact that he only seemed to be a handful of years older than she was. He hadn't known the boy's name then, of course, wouldn't learn it for another seven years.

Wouldn't know it until the Empire launched a surprise assault on Galahd, devastating the island province and forcing far too many of its people to flee from their homes in the hopes of escaping the pitiless flames of war.

He hadn't known that boy's name until he'd stood before Regis as a young man of twenty, grief and fury hovering above him like a tangible shroud as he knelt at Regis's feet and pledged his loyalty.

But Regis knows Nyx _now_ and the younger man's capacity for selflessness resonates with him even as it worries him. Because as impressive as Nyx's repeated heroics are (and they truly _are_ impressive; Regis would be hard-pressed to name anyone else who could beat General Glauca in single combat much less accomplish the various other impossible feats that Commander Ulric has pulled off) the part of Regis that's more of a worried father than a tired king looks at the commander of his Kingsglaive and sees that young boy from Galahd, the boy who'd put himself between his sister and a pack of ferocious daemons with nothing more than an old dagger and an endless supply of fierce determination.

And that aspect of Nyx's personality doesn't seem to have changed much in those intervening years; he still throws himself headlong into danger in a way that almost reminds Regis of Cor's more tempestuous years, still puts himself between his loved ones and whatever danger is threatening them without any hesitation whatsoever.

And Regis _worries_ , because at the rate Nyx is going, he's going to be dead by forty if he doesn't start exhibiting a little more regard for his own life.

(Regis very deliberately doesn't think about the fact that, if Cor's hints and Nyx's own slip-ups are to be believed, the commander of his Kingsglaive already _has_ died once, sacrificing his life in the hopes of securing a brighter future for his people.

He wants to ask Nyx about it, wants desperately to know what transpired in that other reality that led to Nyx somehow acquiring the power of the Lucii despite not having a single drop of royal blood in his veins, but his commander had only recently started looking settled in his own skin again after the mess with Glauca and his unexpected shouting matches with the Lucii, and so Regis hasn't pushed. He doesn't need answers so badly that he's willing to compromise Nyx's mental health in exchange; he'd rather _never_ ask, than risk hurting someone to which he owes such a great debt of gratitude.

And if part of him is perhaps afraid to ask, well, no one besides him has to know that.)

So, yes, Regis worries. He doesn't show it the same way Cor does, bristling with indignation every time Nyx does something reckless (and Regis can't help but find it almost hilarious, the way Cor grows so unspeakably frustrated with Nyx's behaviour when he was approximately ten times worse in his younger years, all youthful bravado and snarky one-liners even as he charged at monsters twice his size and gave Regis and their other friends collective heart attacks _every damn time_ ) but he _does_ worry about the commander of his Kingsglaive.

So he does what he can, to make sure Nyx Ulric doesn't push himself past the breaking point.

Regrettably, Nyx doesn't seem to appreciate his attempts to assist; does not, in fact, seem to realize that Regis is _trying_ to look out for him, and keep him from winding up in an early grave.

"What do you mean, I can't go back to active duty?" Nyx asks indignantly after Regis kindly but firmly rejects his request to return to the frontlines. "My ribs are completely healed!"

Regis favors him with a look that's somewhere between amused and sympathetic, because he understands where Nyx is coming from, truly, but the answer is still no. "Be that as it may," he says, "given that you've had more high stakes missions in the last few months than some people have in their entire careers, I should think that some time spent away from the frontlines would be rather beneficial. Besides," he tacks on, seeing Nyx's faintly mutinous expression, "your mandated light duty designation expires in three days anyway, does it not? Surely there are matters here in Insomnia you can turn your attention towards until then.

Nyx makes a vaguely unhappy sound, mouth drawing down into a faint frown as he looks at Regis. "Well, yes, but-"

"Then it's settled," Regis saying, not letting Nyx finish his sentence because Regis _knows_ that expression, it's the same belligerent look Cor gets whenever Regis tells him to take a couple days off; after years of exposure to that look, Regis knows better than to let Nyx keep talking when he's making That Face. "You will return to active duty in three days' time, Commander, and not a moment before."

Nyx's face does something complicated before it settles into an expression that's more resigned than anything. "…Yes, Your Majesty."

Regis gives a low huff of laughter before he can stop himself. "Don't look so forlorn, Nyx Ulric," he tells the younger man, tone somewhere between chiding and teasing. "The war will still be there in three days, I assure you. Take this time as the respite it should be. As the respite you _deserve_ ," he adds.

Nyx's mouth quirks up in a slight smile, a startled sort of gratitude sparking to life in his gaze. "I still think I would be of more use to you on the battlefield, Your Majesty," he says, "but thank you." He moves to bow, but Regis cuts him off with a gesture.

"Ah, none of that now, Commander, please. After all," he adds with a smirk, "we are family now, are we not?"

That earns him a predictable grumble and an embarrassed blush from the commander of the most dangerous military force in all of Lucis. "I still can't believe you did that," Nyx mutters, looking torn between amusement and irritation as some of the distance that normally exists between them as a result of their respective stations fades away slightly.

"It was the most prudent way of explaining your increased magical abilities," Regis reminds him, smirk not dissipating.

"Easy for you to say," Nyx retorts, "you aren't getting twenty letters a week from gold-diggers looking to marry into the royal family! I can't even dissuade them by telling them that I'm not actually royal," he adds with a grumble, "because that would spoil the whole cover story."

"Truly," Regis says, not bothering to fully stifle his laughter, "a most unpleasant hardship, to be a royal bachelor in Insomnia." He remembers the hilarious terror of it all too well, himself, from before he'd met and fallen head over heels in love with Aulea.

Nyx just glowers at him, mouth set in a scowl even as a spark of amusement shines in his own gaze. "If that will be all, Your Majesty," he drawls a moment later, sullen expression fading as if it had never existed in the first place, "I think it's time I got back to work."

"Very well," Regis concedes, deciding that he's probably harassed the younger man enough for the day. "But _not_ on the frontlines," he reminds him pointedly, because he has a feeling that unless he reinforces that particular order it's entirely possible it will get ignored.

"...Not on the frontlines," Nyx echoes, still sounding vaguely disgruntled about it otherwise but accepting of the directive. "There's a new batch of recruits coming in tomorrow," he adds, looking thoughtful. "I guess it couldn't hurt to check in on them myself, give them a little extra hands-on training in addition to whatever Libertus and Crowe have planned."

Regis, who has heard a fair number of entertaining tales from his son about what "hands-on training" consists of where Nyx Ulric is concerned, feels a brief surge of pity for those poor recruits. "Try not to scare them away, Commander," he says dryly. "We do still need as many able-bodied men and women as possible if we hope to persevere against the Empire."

"Oh, don't worry, sir," Nyx says cheerfully. "It'll all be very character-building for them, I promise." And then, with a wink and a salute, he's gone, striding out of the throne room so quickly that if Regis didn't know better he would have assumed the man had warped himself away.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so! I was not originally planning to do a Regis POV drabble at this particular moment in time, but I was re-watching Kingsglaive for the hundredth time (as as obsessed fan does ;D) and I couldn't help but Have Feelings about that scene where Nyx demands to speak to Regis (about the Imperial airships lurking nearby, lying in wait with Lunafreya held prisoner on-board), and when he finally does get to the King, Regis knows who he is on sight. Doesn't need Nyx to identify himself, doesn't go "and you are who?", he literally takes one look at Nyx and goes "Nyx Ulric!". Like. Guys. How much of a reputation does Nyx have that King Regis Lucis Caelum, who by virtue of his position has a lot of shit going on right then, CAN RECOGNIZE HIM ON SIGHT WITHOUT PROMPTING. Like, it's left ambiguous whether Regis knows him strictly because of his service as a Glaive (which is presumably impressive, given that our first introduction to him is as he's one-shotting a Behemoth, plus Nyx is canonically stated to be the best at channeling the King's magic for warping and using battle magic and stuff, which would probably get you noticed by your superiors pretty fast) or if he also remembers Nyx from when he saved him years ago (an event that isn't directly mentioned in the movie itself, I don't think? But it's definitely mentioned in supplementary material) but either way I HAD FEELINGS ABOUT IT. (…In hindsight, a fair number of these AU drabbles are because I have feelings about things, lol. ;P)


End file.
